Pub Date : 2022-06-27DOI: 10.1177/00438200221107956
Jozef Raadschelders
This review essay was prompted by a reading of Salvador Santino F. Regilme's (2021) book entitled Aid Imperium: United States Foreign Policy and Human Rights in Post-Cold War Southeast Asia (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press). American development aid is motivated by a mixture of security, commercial, and humanitarian interests. All three rationales are characteristic for foreign aid since the Second World War, but not always in the same mix. Security concerns were quite influential in the 1950s and early 1960s and again after 9/11. Regilme describes American foreign aid rationales for two Southeast Asian countries (the Philippines and Thailand) and shows how quickly humanitarian considerations give way to security interests. What makes his study quite unique is that he focuses on the intertwinement of donor and recipient interests. Both donor and recipient act more on the basis of territorial and domestic concerns than with an eye on international, humanitarian needs.
{"title":"REVIEW ESSAY – THE PEOPLE'S CHOICE","authors":"Jozef Raadschelders","doi":"10.1177/00438200221107956","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00438200221107956","url":null,"abstract":"This review essay was prompted by a reading of Salvador Santino F. Regilme's (2021) book entitled Aid Imperium: United States Foreign Policy and Human Rights in Post-Cold War Southeast Asia (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press). American development aid is motivated by a mixture of security, commercial, and humanitarian interests. All three rationales are characteristic for foreign aid since the Second World War, but not always in the same mix. Security concerns were quite influential in the 1950s and early 1960s and again after 9/11. Regilme describes American foreign aid rationales for two Southeast Asian countries (the Philippines and Thailand) and shows how quickly humanitarian considerations give way to security interests. What makes his study quite unique is that he focuses on the intertwinement of donor and recipient interests. Both donor and recipient act more on the basis of territorial and domestic concerns than with an eye on international, humanitarian needs.","PeriodicalId":35790,"journal":{"name":"World Affairs","volume":"185 1","pages":"615 - 633"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-06-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44659352","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-06-23DOI: 10.1177/00438200221107398
Hasan Altin
Power transition in the international order and the position of China in this order have triggered ramifications in China's foreign policy strategy toward the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Its foreign policy approach has evolved from strict non-intervention to an assertive policy at the international level and constructive engagement at the regional level. China has simultaneously been applying both soft and hard power to protect its national interests in MENA. This study aims to assess China's four-pillar MENA policy from the perspective of its smart power strategy by examining its hard power means and soft power tools.
{"title":"A GENUINE BLEND OF STATECRAFTS","authors":"Hasan Altin","doi":"10.1177/00438200221107398","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00438200221107398","url":null,"abstract":"Power transition in the international order and the position of China in this order have triggered ramifications in China's foreign policy strategy toward the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Its foreign policy approach has evolved from strict non-intervention to an assertive policy at the international level and constructive engagement at the regional level. China has simultaneously been applying both soft and hard power to protect its national interests in MENA. This study aims to assess China's four-pillar MENA policy from the perspective of its smart power strategy by examining its hard power means and soft power tools.","PeriodicalId":35790,"journal":{"name":"World Affairs","volume":"185 1","pages":"557 - 586"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-06-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48895855","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-06-19DOI: 10.1177/00438200221104498
N. Schimmel
This article examines the legal contours of the international law regime as it relates to internally displaced people (IDPs) and assesses it critically. It analyzes the structural legal and humanitarian injustices from which IDPs suffer as a result of often arbitrary distinctions between them and refugees in international refugee law, international human rights law, and international humanitarian law. It explores how IDPs do not have the same explicit, dedicated legal protections in international law as refugees who have fled their countries of origin and crossed an international border. It argues that precisely because IDPs lack international legal protections, their rights and needs are often overlooked and met with indifference and lack of sufficient humanitarian response from the United Nations, its agencies and member states, and global humanitarian NGOs. It discusses efforts to recognize a specific set of international legal rights for IDPs, why they have been stymied for several decades, and the practical consequences in terms of human rights deferred and denied and human welfare undermined for IDPs and their increasing vulnerability and disadvantage. Finally, it presents ways of improving respect for and fulfillment of the human rights of IDPs.
{"title":"TRAPPED BY SOVEREIGNTY","authors":"N. Schimmel","doi":"10.1177/00438200221104498","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00438200221104498","url":null,"abstract":"This article examines the legal contours of the international law regime as it relates to internally displaced people (IDPs) and assesses it critically. It analyzes the structural legal and humanitarian injustices from which IDPs suffer as a result of often arbitrary distinctions between them and refugees in international refugee law, international human rights law, and international humanitarian law. It explores how IDPs do not have the same explicit, dedicated legal protections in international law as refugees who have fled their countries of origin and crossed an international border. It argues that precisely because IDPs lack international legal protections, their rights and needs are often overlooked and met with indifference and lack of sufficient humanitarian response from the United Nations, its agencies and member states, and global humanitarian NGOs. It discusses efforts to recognize a specific set of international legal rights for IDPs, why they have been stymied for several decades, and the practical consequences in terms of human rights deferred and denied and human welfare undermined for IDPs and their increasing vulnerability and disadvantage. Finally, it presents ways of improving respect for and fulfillment of the human rights of IDPs.","PeriodicalId":35790,"journal":{"name":"World Affairs","volume":"185 1","pages":"500 - 529"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-06-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45048448","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-06-19DOI: 10.1177/00438200221107412
Noah S. Schwartz
Despite the popularity of the Evidence-Based Policy Making paradigm, scholarly evidence often fails to have an impact in emotional or value-laden policy debates. Consequently, changes to Canada’s gun control laws in recent years have often failed to incorporate scholarly research. This is problematic given that the forces of path dependence impose costs on policy makers who seek to reverse established policies, even if they are dysfunctional. This article lays the theoretical foundations for a Firearms Policy Evaluation Framework, which can be used by scholars, policy makers, advocates, and the public to conduct preliminary evaluations of proposed firearms policies before they become law. The utility of the framework is then demonstrated with an evaluation of the 2020 assault-style weapons ban in Canada, which includes a systematic scoping review of the literature on the impact of assault-weapons bans.
{"title":"AIMING FOR SUCCESS","authors":"Noah S. Schwartz","doi":"10.1177/00438200221107412","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00438200221107412","url":null,"abstract":"Despite the popularity of the Evidence-Based Policy Making paradigm, scholarly evidence often fails to have an impact in emotional or value-laden policy debates. Consequently, changes to Canada’s gun control laws in recent years have often failed to incorporate scholarly research. This is problematic given that the forces of path dependence impose costs on policy makers who seek to reverse established policies, even if they are dysfunctional. This article lays the theoretical foundations for a Firearms Policy Evaluation Framework, which can be used by scholars, policy makers, advocates, and the public to conduct preliminary evaluations of proposed firearms policies before they become law. The utility of the framework is then demonstrated with an evaluation of the 2020 assault-style weapons ban in Canada, which includes a systematic scoping review of the literature on the impact of assault-weapons bans.","PeriodicalId":35790,"journal":{"name":"World Affairs","volume":"185 1","pages":"442 - 470"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-06-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43205568","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-06-10DOI: 10.1177/00438200221102405
A. Akinola, Oluwaseun Tella
While South Africa–China relations were only formalized in 1998, relations between these states date back to the 1800s. South Africa's quest for sustainable development through partnerships with global powers motivated its close ties with China. The 2015 Cape Town Declaration committed the two countries to improve health facilities and disease control. The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic presents an opportunity to rethink this partnership. Drawing on desktop research, this article engages the reality of COVID-19 and explores South Africa–China relations in the context of the pandemic. The emergence of the virus in China, its rapid spread, and the high fatality rate have had devastating repercussions across the world. This article argues that Beijing's response to COVID-19 raises more questions than it answers. The outbreak of the virus in China, its response, and emerging cases of racism and xenophobia against Africans in China also raise concerns about the future of South Africa–China relations.
{"title":"COVID-19 AND SOUTH AFRICA–CHINA ASYMMETRIC RELATIONS","authors":"A. Akinola, Oluwaseun Tella","doi":"10.1177/00438200221102405","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00438200221102405","url":null,"abstract":"While South Africa–China relations were only formalized in 1998, relations between these states date back to the 1800s. South Africa's quest for sustainable development through partnerships with global powers motivated its close ties with China. The 2015 Cape Town Declaration committed the two countries to improve health facilities and disease control. The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic presents an opportunity to rethink this partnership. Drawing on desktop research, this article engages the reality of COVID-19 and explores South Africa–China relations in the context of the pandemic. The emergence of the virus in China, its rapid spread, and the high fatality rate have had devastating repercussions across the world. This article argues that Beijing's response to COVID-19 raises more questions than it answers. The outbreak of the virus in China, its response, and emerging cases of racism and xenophobia against Africans in China also raise concerns about the future of South Africa–China relations.","PeriodicalId":35790,"journal":{"name":"World Affairs","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-06-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49300874","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-06-01DOI: 10.1177/00438200221087971
G. Dijkstra, J. Raadschelders
How difficult it is to introduce democratic institutional arrangements in a territory that had mainly experience with authoritarian government is illustrated by the case of Bosnia-Herzegovina (BH). The Dayton Peace Accord of 1995 established the (Office of the) High Representative (OHR) to help the new republic of BH develop into a democracy. After more than 25 years, one cannot but conclude that the creation of democratic institutions has not worked for lack of collaboration between the three most important ethnic groups. At best, BH is a controlled democracy, held together by OHR. The development of this office is analyzed in terms of a neo-institutional framework. We argue that the republic survives so far on the basis of negative legitimacy (accepting the OHR as the binding institutional arrangement). This also suggests that neither developments in a past long gone nor more recent developments (i.e., ‘strong’ path-dependency) prohibit a development toward positive legitimacy (i.e., ‘lean’ path-dependency). The case of BH also illustrates that democracy is hard, if not impossible, to establish when people are internally divided and where (some) domestic and international actors exploit these divisions in the international arena.
{"title":"THE HIGH REPRESENTATIVE IN BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA","authors":"G. Dijkstra, J. Raadschelders","doi":"10.1177/00438200221087971","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00438200221087971","url":null,"abstract":"How difficult it is to introduce democratic institutional arrangements in a territory that had mainly experience with authoritarian government is illustrated by the case of Bosnia-Herzegovina (BH). The Dayton Peace Accord of 1995 established the (Office of the) High Representative (OHR) to help the new republic of BH develop into a democracy. After more than 25 years, one cannot but conclude that the creation of democratic institutions has not worked for lack of collaboration between the three most important ethnic groups. At best, BH is a controlled democracy, held together by OHR. The development of this office is analyzed in terms of a neo-institutional framework. We argue that the republic survives so far on the basis of negative legitimacy (accepting the OHR as the binding institutional arrangement). This also suggests that neither developments in a past long gone nor more recent developments (i.e., ‘strong’ path-dependency) prohibit a development toward positive legitimacy (i.e., ‘lean’ path-dependency). The case of BH also illustrates that democracy is hard, if not impossible, to establish when people are internally divided and where (some) domestic and international actors exploit these divisions in the international arena.","PeriodicalId":35790,"journal":{"name":"World Affairs","volume":"185 1","pages":"285 - 311"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44502125","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-04-20DOI: 10.1177/00438200221094588
D. Siegel
Drawing heavily on theories about Russia's informal politics, American sanctions were designed to change Russian foreign policy by exploiting political conflict among oligarchs and the state elite; however, after nearly eight years of sanctions, Russian elites seem more united than ever. I propose that Russia's oligarchs—the ruthless self-interested economic elite in Russia's informal political system—might sometimes act as a cohesive oligarchy, particularly when their wealth is threatened from external rather than domestic sources, as has been the case under Western sanctions. Through an in-depth case study on the design and outcome of sanctions, this article seeks to develop a more dynamic theory of Russia's informal politics and explain the apparent cohesion among state and economic elites since 2014 as the result of a politics of wealth defense induced by Western sanctions.
{"title":"FROM OLIGARCHS TO OLIGARCHY","authors":"D. Siegel","doi":"10.1177/00438200221094588","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00438200221094588","url":null,"abstract":"Drawing heavily on theories about Russia's informal politics, American sanctions were designed to change Russian foreign policy by exploiting political conflict among oligarchs and the state elite; however, after nearly eight years of sanctions, Russian elites seem more united than ever. I propose that Russia's oligarchs—the ruthless self-interested economic elite in Russia's informal political system—might sometimes act as a cohesive oligarchy, particularly when their wealth is threatened from external rather than domestic sources, as has been the case under Western sanctions. Through an in-depth case study on the design and outcome of sanctions, this article seeks to develop a more dynamic theory of Russia's informal politics and explain the apparent cohesion among state and economic elites since 2014 as the result of a politics of wealth defense induced by Western sanctions.","PeriodicalId":35790,"journal":{"name":"World Affairs","volume":"185 1","pages":"249 - 284"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-04-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43722653","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-04-18DOI: 10.1177/00438200221085897
G. Dijkstra, J. Raadschelders
Given the pace of contemporary events, this brief commentary is intended as an addendum and recent update to our original research article that is also published in this issue of World Affairs (vol. 185, no. 2) entitled “The High Representative in Bosnia-Herzegovina: The Unusual Institutional Arrangement of a Non-Authoritarian, yet Controlled, Democracy” (see Dijkstra and Raadschelders 2022). We focus here on Russia's role in Bosnia and raise some tentative questions that are likely to remain extremely important for world affairs in the Balkans and beyond over the coming months. This commentary was submitted to World Affairs Journal some days before the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Given the extreme unpredictability of the situation regarding Ukraine and Russia, we elected not to provide substantive updates since late February 2022.
{"title":"COMMENTARY – THE BOSNIAN TINDERBOX","authors":"G. Dijkstra, J. Raadschelders","doi":"10.1177/00438200221085897","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00438200221085897","url":null,"abstract":"Given the pace of contemporary events, this brief commentary is intended as an addendum and recent update to our original research article that is also published in this issue of World Affairs (vol. 185, no. 2) entitled “The High Representative in Bosnia-Herzegovina: The Unusual Institutional Arrangement of a Non-Authoritarian, yet Controlled, Democracy” (see Dijkstra and Raadschelders 2022). We focus here on Russia's role in Bosnia and raise some tentative questions that are likely to remain extremely important for world affairs in the Balkans and beyond over the coming months. This commentary was submitted to World Affairs Journal some days before the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Given the extreme unpredictability of the situation regarding Ukraine and Russia, we elected not to provide substantive updates since late February 2022.","PeriodicalId":35790,"journal":{"name":"World Affairs","volume":"185 1","pages":"312 - 318"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-04-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41430666","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-04-11DOI: 10.1177/00438200221084699
Andreas Umland
This article was submitted in late 2021, and became dated after Russia's demonstrative preparation as well as start of an open, large-scale invasion of Ukraine early 2022. We nevertheless publish this commentary here in order to document the debate about the events leading to the escalation. No adaptations to the original 2021 article were made after the outbreak of high-intensity war on 24 February 2022. Avoiding a larger military escalation in the Russian–Ukrainian conflict is an important aim. Yet, historical experience suggests that concessions by Ukraine or its Western partners toward Russian revanchist aspirations in the Donbas may not help achieve it. On the contrary, Western softness, and Ukrainian weakness vis-à-vis the Kremlin will lead to further confrontation.
{"title":"COMMENTARY – SHOULD WASHINGTON HAVE PRESSED KYIV INTO A COMPROMISE WITH MOSCOW?","authors":"Andreas Umland","doi":"10.1177/00438200221084699","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00438200221084699","url":null,"abstract":"This article was submitted in late 2021, and became dated after Russia's demonstrative preparation as well as start of an open, large-scale invasion of Ukraine early 2022. We nevertheless publish this commentary here in order to document the debate about the events leading to the escalation. No adaptations to the original 2021 article were made after the outbreak of high-intensity war on 24 February 2022. Avoiding a larger military escalation in the Russian–Ukrainian conflict is an important aim. Yet, historical experience suggests that concessions by Ukraine or its Western partners toward Russian revanchist aspirations in the Donbas may not help achieve it. On the contrary, Western softness, and Ukrainian weakness vis-à-vis the Kremlin will lead to further confrontation.","PeriodicalId":35790,"journal":{"name":"World Affairs","volume":"185 1","pages":"319 - 330"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-04-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41696086","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-04-01DOI: 10.1177/00438200221093384
{"title":"OPEN LETTER BY 96 EXPERTS ON EASTERN EUROPE AND INTERNATIONAL SECURITY TO THE GERMAN GOVERNMENT","authors":"","doi":"10.1177/00438200221093384","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00438200221093384","url":null,"abstract":"<jats:p> </jats:p>","PeriodicalId":35790,"journal":{"name":"World Affairs","volume":"185 1","pages":"239 - 248"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49320224","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}